Unattainable Fruit

Chapter 47: Allies & Invasions

Beta Cole

James' POV

It's a painstakingly slow hour later that Alex alerts us that there's someone outside.

I'm hoping it's the Vampire who ran for it the moment our backs were turned away, claiming that this is more than he bargained for. Johnathan had offered to track down the poor bastard, but I let him go, not blaming him at all for backing out of a possible suicide mission.

He goes to investigate and comes back with Charlotte, her cheeks flushed and the Omega breathing hard for once. I grab her a bottle of water from the fridge, trying to hold myself back from jumping her, forcing her to tell me everything.

After a moment she's able to catch her breath, setting aside the bottle I gave her after a few gulps. She wipes her mouth before asking Titan to grab one of the maps of Vollmond from the bookcase. The large wolf does as asked and brings it over the the large dining table that we crowd around as Charlotte clues us in on what's going on over there.

"Okay, so, this is the White Cabin. And here," She pauses, moving her finger over the lake close to the north east corner of the Rougelands. "This is where Makayla's camp is. There's a good covering of trees along the border, but it thins out into a huge clearing, and they've set up camp away from the trees, forcing us to expose ourselves fully, open for attack in order to get to them." She explains and all I'm hearing is bad news. "So after checking things out, they don't have any weapons, but all the Rouges there had these really daunting eyes that were fully black, no pupils. There were about thirty of them. I also caught sight of Richard who seems to be working with Makayla. He has the same eyes as the rest of them. They also have Jessica prisoner, they must think James knows about this 'Key to Heaven' and told one of the people he was with. I managed to talk to Cody, he looked bad, James, I'm sorry. He was bruised and I could tell he's been throwing up acid. He's staying strong, but with his Omega genes especially with being half human, I don't know how much his body can take." She tells me. She can't meet my eyes, and I find the rest of them can't either, worry and helplessness crushing my shoulders.

"But you're not saying it's impossible to save Cody and Jessica, right?" Taylor asks, he and Enza look close to either crying to high tailing it to Cody's side whether we're with them or not.

"No, I'm not. In fact, I think I know of a way we can catch them off guard. We stagger the blows, and hit them twice. First, we gather the majority of our forces and have them go the fastest route, cutting through the rivers on the bridges in Winter Moon, and approaching them head on. That's where they expect us to come. Once they see that that's where we attacked and they don't immediately see a second unit coming from the south, they're going to pull their guards back to the camp to help them defend it. And that's when the second unit goes in, cutting them off from behind once we've surrounded their forces. That gives Alpha James and Beta Alex the chance to grab Cody. I gave him my key to my set of anti-mana cuffs and I think they should work on his. I told him to make him move once he hears the commotion." She explains, tracing our paths on the map. The second group will take longer to get there having to circle more than half the lake, but it's a solid plan, and the odds of us being able to save Cody and Jessie feels a lot better than it did a few moments ago.

I take a breath to center my thoughts and ready myself.

"Okay, Autumn Falls isn't sending any help, it's me, Alex, my Commanders and Spy Master. I can't risk getting Zee hurt, and I need you to help fix Cody up once we have him back." I tell her and she nods. "Is this who we have to work with or are there more on the way?" I ask the table, and Lord Azrin is first to speak up.

"My Apprentice Athena is on the way, and to my understanding, her brother, Percy is as well." He says, glancing towards Artemis to nods firmly.

"And my three Commanders are on standby by at the Academy, they can join us on our way towards their camp. My Spymaster is staying behind along with my Head Warrior. I need to make sure they're safe in case something happens." Alpha Lucas adds, and I get it.